NTV Asset Management LLC Makes New $260,000 Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $AJG

Key Points

• NTV Asset Management LLC made a $260,000 investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by acquiring 811 shares in the second quarter.
• Insider transactions showed that CFO Douglas K. Howell and VP Scott R. Hudson sold significant amounts of stock, resulting in respective decreases of 7.35% and 13.01% in their ownership.
• Analysts have mixed outlooks on the stock, with recent price targets ranging from $288.00 to $329.00 and an average rating of "Hold".

NTV Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 811 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,411,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,499,185,000 after acquiring an additional 739,130 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,021,798,000 after purchasing an additional 137,354 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,364,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $816,409,000 after purchasing an additional 9,458 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.3% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,336,591 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $796,217,000 after buying an additional 7,594 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total value of $2,396,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,186,742.58. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total transaction of $3,825,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,569,792. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AJG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $369.00 to $365.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $328.80.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $310.95 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $297.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.73 billion, a PE ratio of 44.17 and a beta of 0.73. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $275.56 and a 1-year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.93%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.

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